Will take 'necessary measures' after Biden admin blacklists firms: China

The penalties over China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities prohibit Americans from selling equipment or other goods to the firms

China on Sunday said it will take “necessary measures” to respond to the US blacklisting of Chinese companies over their alleged role in abuses of Uyghur people and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

The Commerce Ministry said the US move constituted an “unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises and a serious breach of international economic and trade rules.” China will “take necessary measures to firmly safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry's statement said.

No details were given, but China has denied allegations of arbitrary detention and forced labour in the far western region of Xinjiang and increasingly responded to sanctions against companies and officials with its own bans on visas and financial links.

The US Commerce Department said in a statement on Friday that the electronics and technology firms and other businesses helped enable “Beijing's campaign of repression, mass detention and high-technology surveillance” against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

The penalties prohibit Americans from selling equipment or other goods to the firms. The United States has stepped up financial and trade penalties over China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, along with its crackdown on democracy in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong.

The Chinese government since 2017 has detained a million or more people in Xinjiang. The US Commerce Department said 14 firms were added to its Entity List over their dealings in Xinjiang, and another five for aiding China’s armed forces.

In 2019, the Commerce Department under then-president Donald Trump targeted 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision , as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology.